Amazon benefits from a weaker pound

Amazon UK released some pretty strong sales, revenue and profit figures yesterday suggesting that the internet retailer continues to enjoy a purple patch despite the recession at home. Clearly the weaker pound is helping as customers sat in their villas in southern Europe or across in recession-hit Ireland take advantage of improved purchasing power to order their DVDs, flat-screen TVs, Nexpresso machines, Apple accessories and digital cameras from the UK website. This story from the Telegraph also reveals the battle that Amazon has had with the EU Commission over the directive on the disposal of consumer durables when they reach the end of their life.

“Until last month Amazon had banned European customers from purchasing electronic items from Amazon.co.uk because it refused to sign-up to the European Commission Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive, which imposes a levy on all retailers for recycling electronic products.”

Amazon continues to expand and achieve internal economies of scale and scope. The business now has four huge warehouses in Glasgow, Fife, Bedfordshire and most recently Swansea, where it opened its largest centre to date last year, at more than 800,000 square feet of storage space with some 1,000 staff.